Madame Tasca

Paolina Francesca Melchiori adopted the American custom of using her husband's surname. "Madame Tasca," as she was known professionally, performed at various venues throughout Southern California, including the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, and the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego. She also sang at St. Peter's, the now-lost Italian church in Los Angeles.

Paolina was a mezzo-soprano. She trained with various esteemed voice teachers in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. She loved to sing lyric opera, and was particularly fond of Puccini's "La Boheme." One of her signature arias was “Muzetta’s Waltz.”

Until shortly before her death, Paolina continued to perform at local Catholic Churches. Her solo work in these venues included Easter Masses and special events.

This publicity photo of Paolina Tasca was shot sometime before her important singing engagements at the Hotel Del Coronado in 1926.

The portrait was probably taken by her husband, Fausto Tasca, who in addition to being a talented painter was also an accomplished photographer.

Programs & Reviews

Madame Tasca began singing professionally in the early 1920's, and continued to sing until shortly before she died in the mid-1980's.

While most of the concert programs and newspaper reviews providing insight into her career have been lost, her son kept one of the scrapbooks she used to document her career and that of her husband, Fausto Tasca. Paolina also began to scrapbook articles about the unfolding career of granddaughter, Sandra Tasca.

Hotel Del Coronado

The program and brief review of Madame Tasca's performance of September 5, 1926 at the Hotel Del Coronado, San Diego.

Radio Broadcast

This review, written for an Italian language newspaper in California, enthusiastically applauds Madame Tasca on her radio performance for station KFQZ. During her solo appearance, Madame Tasca sang "various romances," accompanied by pianist, Miss Hamblin.